David Crosby Releasing Fourth Album In Four Years Tomorrow

David Crosby is at home being first among equals on his new album, If You Listen, which will be released tomorrow — marking his fourth new album in as many years. Crosby is co-billed on the album with his collaborators, vocalist/instrumentalists Michael League, Becca Stevens, and Michelle Willis. Crosby talked about the process for working with the crew, who first teamed on “Croz's” 2016 album Lighthouse. He told USA Today, “What we did in Crosby, Stills & Nash was only occasionally a collaboration, like 'Wooden Ships' with Paul Kantner, Stephen Stills, and me. But mostly it was a very competitive environment. Each of us wanted to have our songs be better than their songs. Competitive effort winds up in war. Collaborative effort winds up in a symphony orchestra. It can be difficult. It’s actually kind of amazing if you can pull it off because people’s egos get in the way. I’ve never even seen it done with four people at once. But that’s what we’re doing here.”

Crosby went on to say, “We’re living in turbulent times. This is a terrible time for the United States of America. We’re in danger of completely losing our 200-year-old democracy. People are generally stressed out to the max. They need music! Music lifts us and brings out the best in us. That’s one of the main reasons we make music; it’s what we’re supposed to be doing.”

When asked if it's an artist's duty to create an “antidote” to troubled times, Crosby explained, “I think of it more as an opportunity. If you’re a conscious human being and you see something like Kent State taking place, then you’re going to want to write 'Ohio.' I try to celebrate the good stuff and call (BS) on the things I disagree with — racism, sexism, war. But that’s only part of the deal. Our main job is not to be watchmen. It’s really just to tell you stories and hopefully take you on emotional voyages. If there’s a purposeful edge to what I’m doing now, it’s just to make good music.”

We asked David Crosby if he too looks at this late-stage wealth of great material and positive activity as a gift: “It does feel like that, yeah. There's a pretty wide range — that has to do with two things; one, I'm in two bands. I've got two bands — one of them's acoustic, the other one's electric. That gives me a wide spread that way. And also, I write with other people. I don't understand people that don't. I guess they want all the (laughs) publishing for themselves, or something. But, for me, writing with other people really works. The other person seems to have something you didn't. Always.”